


When Hal got Lost

by IceJazzElleth



Category: DC Extended Universe, Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Justice Society of America (Comics)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Comedy, Drabble, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Light-Hearted, Mentioned Bruce Wayne, North Pole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24470122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceJazzElleth/pseuds/IceJazzElleth
Summary: During the 1980s, Hal Jordan spent around 24 hours stuck in the Arctic due to villain shenanigans but eventually found a National Geographic Outpost. What if instead of finding the National Geographic Outpost, the Emerald Warrior stumbles upon the Fortress of Solitude?Light-hearted one shot looking at how this might have played out, including recovery time at the JSA's headquarters with their resident doctor, Dr. Mid-Nite.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	When Hal got Lost

Snow blind, starving and exhausted, Hal Jordan pushed one. Doctor Polaris had said that there was a National Geographic base in the North Pole. 100 miles away. He could make it. He would make it.

His legs shook with every step. His arms were useless and frozen. But he was Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814. He’d not be overcome by a little thing such as being stranded powerless in the North Pole for over 24 hours.

Hal tripped.

That or his legs gave out, but Hal preferred to believe it was the former as he plunged into the ice cold snow. It was not the first time he thought about how convenient it would be if his body would just let him die so his stubborn will would stop pushing him forward.

It seemed the world did not want that.

Coffee.

He could smell coffee.

With a groan, Hal rose, blind eyes scanning an imaginary horizon for what he could not see. The source. This had to be the outpost! Getting to his knees, then his feet, Hal strode after the scent on shaky legs. One. Two. Three…

He lost count and then there was a door. He knocked. It was metal and echoed out as he rapped. Finally it opened and the smell of coffee was strong.

“I was… in the… neighbourhood… Thought I might… drop in…” Hal said. And then he fell forward, eyes sealed shut by the tears of pain and relief he shed.

* * *

Clark was not used to having someone knock on the door. The Fortress of Solitude was just that. A quiet place away from interference. A place that he could be alone. In the middle of the inhospitable tundra that was the Arctic. People did not just drop in.

In his Fortress of Solitude, Clark liked to relax. Bruce had once brought him a Batman onsie. It was fluffy, soft and had little ears. Clark loved to wear it around the Fortress where no one would see it. This morning he had risen to make himself a cup of coffee when he had heard the knock. Curiosity dictated that he investigate and when Clark opened the door, a frozen Hal Jordan fell in.

There was a pause of shock. Which was only a pause for Clark due to his super speed. His hearing could make out the Green Lantern’s slow pulse and his hand went to Hal’s forehead. His temperature was low. Very low. The stubble on Hal’s jaw implied he’d been out of contact for a while. His uniform was torn across the back, blood frozen to the skin. By all accounts, it was surprising that Hal was not dead.

The door was closed and with Hal cradled gently in his arms, coffee sadly left to one side, Clark carried the man in. Green Lantern was unconscious which was concerning. Where should he let Hal defrost? His first thought had been his own bed but considering the amount of frozen ice and blood that coated the Emerald Warrior, perhaps not. Moving to the living quarters, Clark cut Hal out of his frozen garments and placed him on the sofa, which he had covered with blankets.

He then went to bring in more blankets to wrap Hal Jordan in, keeping an ear out for the man’s breathing. It was shallow. Paused occasionally. After wrapping Hal up, Clark went to radio in Doctor Mid-Nite. It would require no effort to explain to the superhero who also happened to be one of the best doctors in the world. Meanwhile explaining to the medical staff in a hospital why a Californian test pilot was lost in the Arctic tundra might be a slight bit more problematic.

The quick call to Doctor Mid-Nite established that it would be OK for Superman to carry Hal to the JSA’s headquarters where Mid-Nite kept a stock of medical equipment but advised using heat packs to keep Hal’s core warm. It seemed Clark’s coffee would grow cold, he thought, as he put the kettle on.

Clark had no heat pads but he did have a hot water bottle he could further wrap up and put between the layers of blankets that Hal was wrapped in. As he waited for the kettle to boil, Clark put his uniform on, wondering whether Hal had seen his onsie before passing out. Or more importantly, whether he would remember. The man’s eyes had not been focused and watering.

When he returned to Hal’s side, water bottle in hand, the man was beginning to stir.

“It’s alright Hal. I’m going to take you to Doctor Mid-Nite. We’ll be there in a few moments.” Clark said, lifting up some of the blankets and placing the hot water bottle above his core.

“Clark?” Hal’s eyes were unfocused and continued to stare where he had been, eyes streaming and melting some of the ice still frozen against his face and new beard growth. His hands moved to feel the hot water bottle and Clark realised that his friend couldn’t see.

“Don’t touch it, Hal. It’s a hot water bottle to warm your core.” Clark explained.

“How long have I been out?” Hal tried to shift but elected to just pull the blankets in closer.

“About half an hour. I’m going to take you to get some medical attention. Will you be OK with the journey?” Clark asked in concern.

“’Course.” Hal said, a bit affronted as he tried to look towards Clark. Carefully, Clark gathered Hal and all the blankets up in his arms.

“Don’t tell Bats.” Hal said suddenly. “Being carried bridal style by Superman. He’d never let me live it down.”

“Don’t worry.” Clark agreed, glancing down as he felt Hal shift into a more comfortable position, moving closer to the warmth of Clark’s body.

“Hal, how long where you out there?” He asked.

“Hm?” Hal seemed to have nodded off for a split second.

“How long were you in the North Pole?”

“Oh.” He frowned, eyes still closed. “Over twenty four hours. I ran out of charge at some point. And I slept twice. Ate a fish. Nearly got eaten by a bear and a wolf.” He was rambling as Superman opened the door and Hal shuddered, drawing in closer.

“Just a few seconds, Hal.” Clark promised, door closing behind him as he took to the sky.

The JSA’s headquarters loomed into view soon and Clark came in through the balcony door.

“Clark, Charles is on his way but radioed me in to get things set up.” Jay Garrick, the original Flash. Hal had fallen asleep again, breathing not deepening much. Alan Scott joined them as they walked through the corridor, taking a reading on his ring.

“I can start to slowly bring his core back up to temperature. Mid-Nite says he’ll be here in a couple of minutes.” Alan explained, shedding a green light on Hal. They came to a medical bay where Hal was gently laid down on a sick bed.

“What happened?” Jay asked, glancing at Superman.

“I found him wandering the North Pole.” Clark explained, reluctant to explain how he had a Fortress of Solitude up there but with Hal’s appearance, perhaps it would not remain secret.

Doctor Mid-Nite strode in and Jay vanished. Clark stepped back to let the JSA doctor work, giving instructions to Alan about where to shed the warmth of his ring. He placed an oxygen mask over Hal’s nose.

“Helping to get warm air into his system. How long was he exposed?” Charles asked, glancing at Clark.

“Over twenty-four hours. He’s also got some wounds on his back.” Clark answered. Doctor Mid-Nite removed the blanketed hot water bottle and carefully turned Jordan over, explaining the injuries that were now clearer as the blood had defrosted. Carefully he cleaned up the man’s back, stitching up the cut and bite wounds.

“I think he might have gone blind.” Clark said, as McNider returned Hal to his back and finished tucking the man in.

“Not much I can do for that. It’ll heal in a couple of days. I’ve got some eye drops. I suspected he might have gotten snow blindness. These’ll help with the pain.” He placed eye drops down on the table next to Hal and then damped a cloth, placing it over his eyes.

“Damp cloth for now, then these glasses until he can see well again.” Charles instructed, placing the glasses next to the drops.

“I think he may have also eaten a raw fish.” Clark added, as Charles looked ready to leave the room.

“That sounds like Hal.” Alan said, his ring still slowly bringing Hal back up to temperature. His breathing was getting deeper and stronger.

“We better hope that he does not get food poisoning.” Charles said with a sigh. “Sadly not much I can do for that unless it becomes serious.” He paused and handed Clark a pager.

“If he does start coming down with food poisoning, call me. For now I’ll be in the Living Room.”

That left Alan and Clark in the medical bay, looking down at Hal’s unconscious form.

“Where’s his ring?” Alan asked, his own light fading.

“It’s gone?” Clark blinked in surprise, glancing at Hal’s ring hand. Alan was right.

“That’s not good.”

“I’ll alert the League. Can I use your equipment?” Clark asked.

“This way.”

* * *

A short while later, Hal came back to awareness. His eyes still burnt and he couldn’t see. Even when he took that damp cloth off. But he felt warm. His back was reasonably numb and he rose so he could check it out, he could feel stitches. The door opened.

“Hal, you should be resting.” Clark’s voice. It was disconcerting not being able to see.

“I’m naked! You undressed me!” Hal accused as Clark was putting that damp cloth back over his eyes and encouraging him to lie down.

“Hal, your clothes were frozen to you. It had to be done. Now rest.” Clark said, hands firm as he pushed Hal back.

“I have to stop Doctor Polaris, Clark. Let me go.” Hal resisted Superman but his body eventually slumped back across the bed.

“I’ve alerted the League. They can take care of it, GL. You need to heal. Do you need any eye drops?”

“Eye drops?”

“For your snow blindness. And the pain.”

There was a pause.

“I’m not in pain.” Hal said sullenly.

The pause lengthened.

“But I’ll take them if that’s what the doctor ordered.” Clark gave Hal the eye drops and stepped away to give the man privacy, making sure to let his foot falls be heard. The Green Lantern was stubborn to a fault.

“What were you doing up there, anyway, Clark?” Hal asked, placing the eye drops back down. “Doctor Polaris said that there was a National Geographic outpost 100 miles from where he left me. But I hadn’t expected you to be there.”

“It… I have a place up there. To get away from it all.” Clark said eventually. Hal gave a nod.

“Did you tell Bats?”

“About carrying you bridal style?” Clark gave a small smile, moving to take a chair. “No. Just said I found you in the North Pole without your ring.”

“I think I can see some light.” Hal said hopefully.

“You may still get food poisoning.” Clark warned. Hal screwed his face up.

“The fish?” He asked.

“You do know people can last for around three weeks without food. You didn’t need to eat the fish.”

“Hey! I felt bad enough about eating the fish without being told I didn’t need to eat him. Poor Charlie.”

“You named the fish you ate?”

“It was freezing! I was lonely. I thought I might die!”

Clark sighed in disbelief. Hal was really something else.

“Do you have someone you live with who can help as you recover your sight?” Clark asked, deciding to change the subject.

“I have my brothers but that might cause questions. Carol’s busy and Tom’s got his family…” And things weren’t exactly going too well for his friend.

“There’s always the Watch Tower. We’ve got spare rooms and someone is always on monitor duty. You’ve been excused yours, by the way.”

“When was it?” Hal inquired, then grinned at the joke. “Tomorrow, 16:00 hours, I know.”

They lapsed into silence. Clark thought Hal might have fallen back into sleep when the Emerald Warrior spoke again.

“Really, right as rain. I could go back. Get my ring.”

“Hal, you can’t see.”

“That’s just a temporary setback.”

“Do you even know where you are?”

Clark watched as Hal took the damp cloth off of his eyes and look around, eyes not settling on any object.

“Watch Tower?”

“Nope.”

“Your apartment?”

“No.”

“My apartment?”

“Still no.”

“Can’t you do warmer or colder, Kal?”

“The point is you can’t see. The League can handle this.”

“So where am I?”

“The JSA Headquarters.”

“Oh. Doctor Mid-Nite.” Hal said with a frown. “Should have realised. Wait, does Alan know?”

“He helped you come back up to temperature.”

“Alan thinks I mess up enough as it is.” Hal grumbled, leaning back into the sheets.

“He cares for you. Alan was the one to alert me that your ring was missing.”

“Great. He’s judging me. I just know it.” Hal paused. “Did you bring my uniform?”

“It was torn. I’ve left it at my place.”

“So you brought me, naked, to the JSA and without a change of clothes.”

“You are meant to be resting. You don’t need a change of clothes.”

Hal pouted, wrinkling his nose.

“And just how am I meant to leave once I can see again?”

“I can pick some of your clothes up from your apartment.” Clark suggested.

“Why don’t you do that now. Then you can leave me and get on with your day.”

“Hal.” Clark’s voice had a sternness to it. Hal heaved a sigh, coughing slightly. He might not be fully recovered yet. But he had a job to do.

* * *

As it turned out, he didn’t need to do his job. The League managed to return his ring to him, after many adventures and a few mishaps. Hal’s eyesight did slowly come back and eventually returned to normal. Batman never did find out about Clark carrying Hal bridal style and Hal had to sit through a short lecture from Alan about responsibility and not eating raw fish after only 24 hours in the wilderness.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing. The idea for this story came from a friend when I was explaining the plot of the comic (Green Lantern #134). They pointed out that Superman has his Fortress of Solitude up in the Tundra and it developed.


End file.
